


Why Are We Whispering?

by mshkfk



Category: College hockey RPF, Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-08
Updated: 2012-12-08
Packaged: 2017-11-20 15:54:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mshkfk/pseuds/mshkfk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are twelve freshmen on the team, and Travis is only one of them. So of course it's him that Kevin picks to take under his wing. Why should anything be weird about that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why Are We Whispering?

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't written anything this long in a while, and I appreciate all the support I got along the way for actually finishing it.
> 
> Comments and feedback are really helpful! All authors can use the encouragement.

Travis would say he really likes MSU’s campus, but that isn’t exactly it. It’s true—it’s a nice campus and all—but that isn’t what’s making his summer so completely awesome. It’s that he’s been… adopted, yeah that’s the word for it… adopted by one of the seniors. Taken under Kevin’s wing, if you will. Like a little bird. Which isn’t a reference he really cares for, but that’s mostly what it is. He doesn’t quite get why it’s happening, but Kevin’s older, wiser, and he knows all this stuff way better than Travis does, so Travis is good with this situation.

The thing is, though… the thing is, Kevin’s really cute. Not in the, “Hey, my older brother is kind of cute to girls,” way. But in the, “That dude in the shorts without a shirt on is _smokin’_ ,” way.

And while Travis has accepted that he has same-sex tendencies (bisexual would be a term he might use if he were so inclined to actually name it), he hasn’t really had the opportunity to act on any of these… feelings… before. Not that he intends to ever act on the urges with Kevin. Because, no. No, no, no, no, no. Kevin’s really cool, a great guy and all, but Kevin is also a senior. Meaning it’s his last year. And while Travis is cool with, you know, dating (in theory), he has no intentions on getting together with someone who’s just going to up and leave in a year.

So he lets it be. He’s pretty sure Kevin’s just being nice because there are like eleven freshmen and someone has to show them how to find the best cafeterias and the shortcuts to Wells Hall. And that’s fine with him. Because Kevin really does look nice without his shirt on. And since it’s June and a billion degrees outside, Kevin spends a lot of time without his shirt on. 

\-----------------

And that’s all it is, really. Learning under Kevin’s wing. The first three months at MSU are pretty normal like that. If Travis isn’t with his roommate, Johnny, he’s with Kevin. And that means he’s not alone.

But then August hits and school’s around the corner and things start changing. Welcome week is in full swing and he’s in full recover-from-hangover mode when Kevin shows up in his dorm, waiting to take him to lunch.

Neither he or Draegs is surprised to see him, so neither look up when he barges in.

“You ready?” he asks.

“I need something greasy,” Travis grabs his wallet and keys.

“Still?” Kevin walks back out the door, expecting Travis to follow. (He does.) “You gotta hit Forfar up for his hangover cure. It could knock the hair off a cat, but everyone swears by it.”

Travis has no plans of ever asking about this miracle cure. He’s heard the rumors and while it sounds like it will work, it also resembles what he believes polyjuice potion would taste like: thick, bubbly, and altogether disgusting. So he’ll pass.

Kevin takes him down the stairs of his dorm to the moped he drove in on. They’ve been doing this for so long that they don’t even hesitate when Travis jumps on behind him and waits for Kevin to start zipping around campus. They don’t even make as far as Grand River before Kevin turns his head so he can say, “So how’d you like to go to a movie after lunch?”

Travis would freeze, except that he’s not exactly moving. So he settles for dropping his jaw, which is just as ineffective, given that Kevin can’t see him.

He repeats, “a movie.”

“Yeah, I dunno if there’s anything out, but there’s no practice this afternoon, so I figured we could see what’s playing.”

He’s not exactly sure how to answer. Because now that he’s actually been yanked out of his hangover stupor, he sees that Kevin’s… actually kind of dressed up. Like, not a suit or anything, but a nice polo with his dress shorts. (Is there such a thing as dress shorts? Travis isn’t sure, but he supposes there can be, and if that’s true, then that’s definitely what Kevin is wearing.) And Kevin has never dressed up before. Not for any of their lunches or dinners or hanging out times. This is… surreal.

“Like a date?” he asks hesitantly, not wanting to overstep, but fairly certain he’s not wrong.

“If you want,” Kevin replies and pulls into Five Guys.

He turns the scooter off and waits for Travis to get off before dismounting.

“Look, Kevin,” he’s standing there like an idiot, he’s sure, all awkward-like and unsure. “I’m flattered. But I’m not interested.”

Because he’s not. He wants to be, most definitely, but Kevin’s a senior. And leaving in May. And, well, Travis has had his heart broken once before. He’s going to do his best to not have that happen again.

But after a weird moment where a look Travis isn’t familiar with passes over Kevin’s face, he just shrugs and gestures to the restaurant. “That’s cool. Like I said, it’s up to you.”

They head inside and things are back to normal again. Which is exactly how Travis likes it.

\--------------------

And it stays normal for almost twenty hours. Then shit hits the proverbial fan.

He wakes up the next morning to the sound of Johnny laughing like a lunatic, which is all the evidence he should need that this day—this _week_ — is going to be a shitstorm.

“Whasofunny?” he grumbles, rolling over to watch his roommate doubled over with laughter. A glance at his phone tells him it’s way too early for this. “It’s seven AM on our day _off_. What are you even doing _up_?”

Draegs wastes no time in picking something up off the ground and turning around with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. “These,” he says through his laughter, “came for _you_!”

“Maybe they’re for you,” he groans, throwing an arm over his face.

“They have your name on them,” Draeger tells him, effectively ruining that option.

Travis sighs, “I don’t even know anyone who would send me f—…fuck.” His arm comes off his face and he’s looking at the flowers and they’re yellow. Sunflowers?

There’s a sound that can only be called a cackle before Johnny holds up the bouquet next to his face. “Here,” he says. “Who’re they from?”

“I dunno,” Travis mumbles, batting the offending flowers away. “Put ’em on my desk.”

“You do too know. Or you wouldn’t have said fuck. Who is it? What’s her name? Is she hot? I bet she is. Hey. I bet it’s that girl who was all over you after the game last night.”

Travis is pretty sure he has the worst roommate ever. 

“Dude. I don’t know. Put those away. I’m going back to sleep.”

When Johnny does exactly that and leaves the room to go for a run, Travis knows he isn’t that bad. But he also is aware of the fact that the topic isn’t dropped yet and will probably be resumed once they go for breakfast in a few hours.

\-----------------

He’s lucky enough to postpone any embarrassing conversations until at least the next day. In fact, not only does he not have to talk to Johnny about the flowers, he doesn’t see Kevin at all. He should know by now that life is never that easy, that it’ll all catch up to him eventually, but he goes to bed feeling like he’s won a small battle.

That feeling goes away pretty quick when he and Draegs get up to go for a very early morning run, pre-practice.

Both stop short as soon as the door opens and a small stack of boxed chocolates stands in their way.

The laughter is immediate and results in a glare from Travis. He’s honestly not sure what he’s done in his life to deserve this, but he wants to find out so he can make amends as soon as possible.

“Oh, no,” Johnny says when he deposits the chocolate on his own desk. “You’re not getting out of this today. I have to know. Who’s wooing my roommate?”

This conversation is going to be awkward and painful no matter how it happens, so Travis decides to get it over with like he handles his band-aids. Quickly.

“It’s Kevin.”

That literally makes Draeger slam on his brakes. He stops halfway through their door and turns back around. “Come again?”

“Wally asked me out. On a date a couple days ago. I told him no.”

“…Why?” Johnny asks. “You like him.”

“I—“ he frowns at Johnny and gestures to the door. “Will you shut that? There are people out there.”

Draeger steps back into the room and closes the door behind him. “Spill.”

“I told you. I told him no.”

His roommate doesn’t seem to buy that. “I heard you. But why? You and him… you’re practically a thing already.”

Travis really, really has to resist the urge to smack his palm against his forehead. “We aren’t, thanks. He’s not my type.”

“He spends more time with you than I do and I live with you,” Johnny accuses, and he does have a point. Which Travis is definitely not going to tell him.

“Yeah. He’s showing me stuff. Acclimating me or whatever. And I didn’t see him at all yesterday.”

Johnny grins. “Yeah, because he asked you out, you shot him down, and he’s trying to woo you now.”

He can’t stop the facepalm now. “What is with you and ‘wooing’? There is none of that. He’s just… I dunno, being nice.”

“Nice?” Draegs laughs. Again. “Nice? He’s trying to get into your pants. So yeah, I guess he’s being nice about it.”

“I can’t date him, alright? I would if he weren’t a senior, but he is and I’m a freshman, so let it go.”

That gets Johnny to stop laughing and he arches an eyebrow at him. “Seriously? You don’t like older guys?”

“It’s not age,” Travis insists. “It’s the fact he’s graduating in may and either going pro, or back home to bumfuck Canada out west.”

“You don’t know that. Have you even talked to him about that?”

Again, another valid point. But one he refuses to give. “He’s not going to stay here. He has no reason to.”

Johnny rolls his eyes, “Not unless you don’t give him one. Give him a chance, or at least talk to him about it so you’re not just shooting him down for your own weird insecurities.”

How did he get such a fucking smart roommate?

“Whatever. Are we running or doing each other’s makeup? Let’s go,” Travis grumbles, pushing past Johnny and out of their room, effectively ending the conversation.

For now.

\---------------------------

When he wakes up the next morning to Johnny’s laughter— _again_ —he seriously wants to consider transferring schools and classes haven’t been going on for a full week.

“What is it this time?” he asks, not even bothering to roll over and look.

“H-he made you a mix tape!” Johnny crows, tossing it up onto his bed.

Travis doesn’t move to get it. “You mean a CD.”

“No. Literally, a mix _tape_. A cassette. I didn’t know they still _made_ those things.”

Throwing his blanket off, Travis sits up and glares down at his snickering roommate. He hopes, somewhere in the dark recesses of the universe, that Karma will pay him back for making fun of him in such a ridiculous way.

“That’s it. This has got to stop.”

“You’re going to ‘talk’ to him?” Johnny asks, literally making air quotes around “talk,” because he’s an asshole.

“Yes, I’m going to talk to him. So he’ll knock this shit off.”

“Good luck, dude,” he says, grabbing his backpack and heading out. “Don’t forget condoms!” he calls back as the door closes behind him.

His roommate really is a douchebag.

\------------------------

Kevin, as it turns out, lives in a house where they don’t lock their doors. This fact makes it easy to walk in and scare the shit out of him while he’s still sleeping.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Travis all but yells, slamming Kevin’s bedroom door closed behind him.

Kevin jerks awake, but doesn’t move an inch beyond opening one eye to glare at him. “Sleeping?” he mumbles, grabbing a pillow and pulling it over his head.

“Uh, no. You’re not. We’re talking right now.”

Kevin doesn’t move, so Travis stalks to the bed and pulls the pillow away. “I said no.”

He opens an eye again. “To what?”

“You!” Travis cries, throwing his arms up in the air. “I said no to _you_! And now you’re leaving me gifts every morning and making my roommate _laugh_ at me because he thinks you’re mooning after me like a twelve year old.”

Kevin stretches, yawns, and pushes the blanket and sheet off himself before rolling out of bed.

Naked.

Travis is fairly certain his brain short-circuits, because his jaw is on the floor and he doesn’t remember what he came here for anymore.

Kevin just smirks and walks to his closet to get shorts. “And?”

“And…” Travis blinks. “And… you need to stop!”

“See,” Kevin turns around and crosses his arms over his still-bare chest. His muscled and well-toned chest. “I think you want this as much as I do. I just don’t know why you won’t give it a shot.”

“Whether I want it or not doesn’t _matter_ ,” he argues. “I said no.”

“It does matter. Because I got vibes, dude. And I’m not always right, but I usually am. And you and I… I think we’d be good together. So why not just go out to dinner with me?”

Travis doesn’t want to answer, but Kevin is still half naked and it’s very distracting. So of course, he answers honestly, “Because you’re graduating in the spring!”

The smirk and cockiness on Kevin’s face is wiped away and replaced with sheer confusion. “Yeah. And?”

“I’m not… doing long-distance relationships. Ever. They don’t work and I don’t need the hassle,” he tells him. “It’s really nothing against you. But I’m not doing it.”

Kevin frowns. “I’m not seeing the correlation here. Yeah, I’m graduating in May, but I’m not sure what I’m doing yet.”

Travis just stares at him. “You’re probably leaving.”

“I won’t lie,” he says. “It’s a definite possibility. But that doesn’t mean it’s set in stone or anything. I like Lansing.”

Johnny’s words echo in his head at that moment, _“he won’t stay if you don’t give him a reason to.”_

But that isn’t what Travis wants. He doesn’t want to hold Kevin back from a professional hockey career, or from his family. Which he knows Kevin is very close to, despite the thousands of miles between them while he’s in school.

“Just drop it, okay? I said no and I mean it.”

Kevin just shrugs. “If you insist.”

And that should be the end of it. It would be if it were anyone’s life but Travis’. But no. This is Travis’ life and nothing is ever _the end_.

\------------------------

The gifts don’t stop. They keep coming and coming, for weeks. For months, actually. It’s like Kevin has a stock of them or something. All varied, none of them like the one previous. Everything from scarves and a hat to a few dvds and some video games.

It isn’t that he doesn’t appreciate the gifts—he does. But he’s told Kevin repeatedly that he isn’t interested. He’s fended off more date requests than he cares to analyze. But Kevin just keeps on coming. They work out together, they eat together, they sometimes sleep together. But, um, not like that. It was just that one time, on the couch, when they both dozed off during _National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation_. It was late and Travis still remembers the way Kevin curled into him on the couch under a blanket, head resting on his shoulder.

It’s moments like that that get Travis into the most trouble, ones that make his attraction to Kevin completely and utterly undeniable. Except he owns significant real-estate on the river called Denial and he intends on keeping it that way. There are times he wonders if he’s leading Kevin on, but the three times he’s attempted to cut off all contact outside of practices and games have been resoundingly unsuccessful. So unsuccessful, in fact, that Johnny had to get involved to get Travis to stop moping.

But really, that’s neither here nor there, because it’s late November—almost Thanksgiving—and it’s been two weeks since Kevin’s asked him out. Or even egregiously flirted with him. Of course they’ve hung out in that time. Nothing has changed on that front. But… the air between them is different.

“I think he gave up,” Travis mutters as he leans into a punch thrown by his left thumb jamming into his X-box controller.

“Gave up what?” Johnny hits back, then follows it with a swipe of his leg, taking Travis’ character down.

“Me.” Travis sets down his controller, defeated (this time). But the distraction hasn’t been enough to keep him from worrying. “Do you think I did something wrong?”

Johnny turns off the console and flips his controller onto a stack of magazines on the table. “I think he’s finally listening to you. You keep saying no.”

“Yeah…”

His roommate leans back into his chair and looks over at him. “You want him, though, right?”

Travis flips him off. “We’ve been over this. Whether I want him or not is irrelevant.”

“Clearly it isn’t. You’re sad he stopped paying attention to you.”

“He hasn’t stopped paying attention to me! He’s just stopped acting like he wants to get into my pants.”

“Ah, you wanna get laid.”

“I do not ‘ _wanna get laid_.’”

Draegs stands up and stretches. “You do. And you want to date Kevin. Get over yourself, get over your irrational fear of seniors, and give into the guy.”

His roommate really does speak the truth (only sometimes and rarely on things that actually matter). He doesn’t know why it’s _this time_ that it sinks in, he doesn’t know why it finally clicks now, only that it does. He likes Kevin—a lot—and he kind of wants to date him.

So of course, the weather in Michigan chooses _this_ night to take a stink and drop a thunderstorm on them. It’s a soaking ride on his scooter across campus and out to Kevin’s house, where he nearly causes an accident by sliding into some frat guy’s car. He’s up the front path, though, and walking in before he can really think about anything and his teammates are all too happy to make fun of him as soon as he steps inside the house.

“Little wet outside, eh?” Grassi asks, watching as Travis stands, dripping on their wood floor.

“Kevin?” he ignores him in favor of Kevin’s other roommate, Tony, who’s standing in the kitchen, laughing at him outright.

“Dude, you just missed him,” Reimer says, walking out of the bathroom. “Just left with Deano and Jake for the long weekend.”

Travis blinks. “He’s going to celebrate Thanksgiving?”

“Yup.”

“With the Chelios family? Fuck,” he sighs, turning to head back out in the rain.

“Whoa, dude,” Lee calls. “Lemme drive you. But grab a towel to sit on or something, because I don’t want you to get my leather seats all wet.”

Travis simultaneously loves and hates Lee Reimer. But he’s not about to turn down a free ride.

Tony throws him a dishtowl from the kitchen and he follows Lee to his car. The drive back to his dorm is quiet, because Lee isn’t really a talkative guy. And really, Travis isn’t in a chatty mood.

Lee does ask him a question when they pull up to the half circle of his dorm, though, “What’d you stop by to see Kevin for?”

“He, uh, asked me something. And I wanted to give him an answer.” That’s about as roundabout a way as he can think of saying it without giving either of them away. Because he doesn’t know how much his teammates know about Kevin. And he knows the only one who knows about him is Johnny, besides Kevin himself. So, best not to give the farm away before he’s sure.

“You should probably let him have the weekend to…” Lee pauses and looks at him critically, like he’s trying to decide what his answer would have been, “get over his issues. He’ll be back Sunday night.”

So Lee probably knows. And he thinks Travis is going to shoot him down again, despite scootering out there in the pouring rain.

“Yeah, um… yeah. Thanks for the ride,” he says, jumping out before Lee can offer up anymore words of wisdom.

His night doesn’t get any better when he walks into his dorm room to find Johnny waiting for him. “Well?”

“He went home with Dean and Jake for Thanksgiving. He’ll be back Sunday,” Travis tells him while stripping out of his soaking clothes. Getting into sweats is a high priority, and once he’s dry(ish) and warm(ish) again, he settles down into his computer chair. “Lee said he’s spending the weekend recouping from my turning him down.”

“Can you blame him?” Draegs asks, turning back to his computer and typing. “He’s been after you for like… five months now.”

There’s no denying that. He doesn’t feel like he’s been toying with Kevin. But he kind of has. He just wishes the realization hit him sooner.

“You could go see him,” Johnny offers after Travis stews in silence for a few minutes.

“I’m not—I’ll go talk to him when he gets home.”

“If you insist.”

He does. And he’ll do his best not to pout at the fact Kevin never let him know he was even _contemplating_ going to the Chelios abode, let alone texting him to tell him he was leaving.

\-----------------------

He misses Kevin a lot while he’s gone. He misses his smile, his jokes (even the bad ones), and he misses how they sort-of-cuddle while they watch movies or do homework together.

But now Kevin’s home. Not that Travis knows because Kevin told him. No, he’s been creeper-stalking his house for three hours, bundled up in two coats and a blanket on his scooter, waiting for Dean and Jake to drop him off. He’s even waited twenty minutes extra so he doesn’t look like a total weirdo when he walks up to the front door and knocks. Has he ever even knocked before? Travis isn’t sure.

“Since when do you knock? Or do you only barge in during thunderstorms?” Tony’s laughing at his own joke because he’s _hilarious_ , and that’s when Kevin comes into the living room.

“Hey,” he says looking anywhere but at Travis. It kind of hurts.

“Can we talk?”

Kevin nods in the direction of his bedroom, so Travis follows him, shutting the door once he’s safely inside.

“So, um, hi. How was your… break?”

“This is not how I want to start this. What’re you doing here, Trav? You’ve made yourself clear. More than. I’m finally listening.” He’s still not looking at him. Kevin sits in his desk chair, so Travis sits on the bed, next to the suitcase that was dumped there.

“I wish...” Travis sighs. “I wish you’d have waited like ten more minutes before you left for Chelios Central. They said I just missed you.”

“Why? What the hell’s so important? You wanna give me my shit back?” Kevin’s bitter and Travis can’t blame him. He let it go on.

“No, I—” and suddenly, he can’t figure out how to say what he’s been rehearsing over and over in his head since Tuesday when Kevin went to Bloomfield Hills. He wants to tell him that he likes him, he wants to date him, he wants to be with him. But all of those words are failing him and he’s left just staring at Kevin, who’s glowering at the floor.

The sour look finally turns to him. “I have things to do. I really…” he sighs and wipes a hand over his face. “I know I’m being a dick about this, but I’m still licking my wounds. I’ll be better in a few days.”

Travis stands up. “Yeah, um… I’m sorry. I am.”

Which is not at _all_ what he wants to say. Well, it is. But not how it sounds. He’s sorry, but he’s also… falling for this guy who’s been nothing but great to him for six months.

“I have to get my backpack out of the car, so I’ll walk you out,” Kevin stands as well and starts walking to the door of his bedroom.

Travis has no idea what he’s doing when he grabs Kevin’s arm and stops him. He looks up at him, finally meets his eyes, and Travis doesn’t see hope there anymore, not like he used to. The flame really is gone, and Kevin just looks sad.

But if Travis takes any more time to think about what he’s doing, if he even stops for a second, this won’t happen, so he leans forward and presses his lips to Kevin’s, just a gentle, barely-there touch. 

Truthfully, he’s had better kisses. If you can even classify this one as that. But it has meaning and the end result makes his heart literally clench when he pulls away. Kevin smiles—grins, really—and brushes his fingers over Travis’s cheek. “Really?” he asks quietly.

And Travis wants this, wants Kevin more than anything, except maybe to have his dad back. So instead of telling him this, he kisses him again, harder this time, trying to convey his feelings.

Kevin responds by wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling him flush against him. Travis can feel how hard his heart is beating, can feel the hardness pressing up against his thigh.

“I want you to stay,” Kevin murmurs against his lips. He hasn’t pulled away entirely, and Travis can’t honestly say he wants him to. He’s liking this feeling, having given in to his desires for once. “Please.”

And there’s no way he could say no. There’s no way he wants to.

They don’t do anything more than lay in bed together, hands don’t go anywhere below the waist, but it’s the best night Travis has had in years, one of the most relaxing. They kiss and they touch, and there’s no orgasms, but both of them want to take this slow. So no jumping bones until at least after the first date.

\--------------------

When Travis does his “walk of shame” (that is so very, very not shameful in the least) into his dorm room, the look Johnny gives him could rival that of the Cheshire Cat.

“What?” Travis asks, because honestly, he knows. And he couldn’t wipe the grin off his own face if he had a Magic Eraser and possibly a magic wand.

“You _dawg_!” Draegs crows, actually _clapping_.

Travis is being applauded.

This is his _life_.

Since he’s still in his clothes from the night before, he grabs clean ones from his dresser, and a towel from his shelf. “Shut up. Nothing happened.”

That gets a booming laugh. “Yeah, alright. What’s that mark on your neck, Casanova?”

Travis’ hand flies to his neck, which is stupid, because of course he can’t feel it—except that he can. Not… because it stands out to the touch, but because when his fingers brush over it, it actually hurts a little. Because it’s a bruise. He forgot Kevin bit him that hard. Or maybe he wasn’t really aware of it at the time. Most of the previous night is still in a glowing haze, and that was how Travis prefers it. It’s kind of perfect.

“Oh. Uh,” he’s actually blushing. He can feel it. “Really, though. Nothing happened. We’re going out tonight. After practice.”

Johnny smiles and it’s genuine. “Congrats, man. It’s about time.”

Travis can only shake his head, grin still plastered on his face, as he ducks into the bathroom.

\--------------------------

It’s t-minus one hour until their date and Travis is freaking the fuck out. He’s standing in his towel in front of his closet, staring blankly. Johnny is laughing hysterically at him from his desk, and being most generally unhelpful.

“But I don’t _have_ anything!” he whines, gesturing with one hand to his clothes while the other holds the towel up.

Johnny points to his own closet space, still laughing too hard to really speak, so Travis flips him off and pokes through his roommate’s clothes. There has to be _something_ he can wear. Something to impress Kevin a little. Even if he’s already won him over, he still wants to wear something nice. Something Kevin hasn’t seen before.

And surprisingly, Johnny’s closet holds the key. It’s a dark green shirt, meant to be fitted, and hanging next to it is a black vest that Travis has actually never seen him wear before. But he likes vests, so he figures he’ll give it a shot.

He snags the clothes off their hangers, grabs his own jeans, and darts back into the bathroom to change. When he emerges, Draegs has stopped laughing and actually gives him a low whistle.

“I look okay?” he asks, still a bit unsure.

Johnny grins wolfishly, “Dude. If I were gay, I’d do you.”

Travis rolls his eyes. He messes with his hair, because it never looks right, and he literally jumps when Kevin knocks on the door to their dorm room.

“Get it!” he hisses to Johnny, gesturing wildly at the door.

“You get it! It’s your date!” his roommate tells him, ignoring his gesticulations.

“You are so not helpful,” Travis grumbles, walking to the door, unlocking it, and throwing it open.

Kevin is standing in front of him in a _tight_ black t-shirt and fitted jeans, and Travis is pretty sure his mouth is watering. He looks good enough to eat.

“Hi,” Kevin says, smiling softly at him.

Travis just blinks, looking him up and down again before he remembers he’s supposed to talk, too. “Oh! Hi. Sorry. Let me just grab my wallet and keys,” he leaves the door open and rushes back to his desk to grab them and shove them into his pockets. “Um,” he looks at Johnny. “I… might be back tonight.”

“Or you might not be,” he grins, waving at Kevin through the open door.

Kevin actually offers him an arm after he closes the door on his way out. He doesn’t hesitate in taking it, not caring at the moment who sees them together. Blissful is an excellent state to be in, one he’s inhabiting and considering putting up a house. He likes this feeling, of being with Kevin. They haven’t even really done anything yet, but there’s a connection, and Travis just feels happy when they’re together.

They end up going to an Irish pub way off campus where no one will recognize them. The meal is nice and once they’re done, they go back to Kevin’s to watch movies and cuddle on the couch.

They walk in and there’s clearly no one inside the house at all.

“Where is everyone?” Travis asks, because he’s never seen the house empty. Ever. Usually one of them is there to give him hell or to help him out.

“I made them bail tonight. We have the house to ourselves until at least 10 tomorrow morning.”

And this here, this is why Travis wants to jump his bones right now. “How did you make them leave?”

Kevin laughs and pulls Travis down onto his lap on the couch. “I’ve been with these guys for four years now. Let’s just say I’ve accumulated a certain amount of blackmail.”

Travis shifts and nuzzles Kevin’s neck, licking along his jaw and sucking softly. “Mmmhmmm. Great idea,” he murmurs.

Kevin’s grip on Travis tightens and he actually whimpers.

They spend the better part of the next hour making out like the teenagers they are (well, Travis is. Kevin is still close enough to a teenager to call it).

Kevin breaks away from nibbling at Travis’ lip and kisses the tip of his nose. “How about we take this to the bedroom?”

Travis nods and scrambles awkwardly off Kevin’s lap, almost landing in a heap at his feet. His jeans are tented, but so are Kevin’s, and they make their way, hand-in-hand down the hall to the last room on the left. They don’t bother kicking the door closed, just resume kissing and ridding each other of their clothes.

Once they’re both naked, Kevin pushes Travis back on the bed and lays down next to him on his side.

Travis can’t get enough of Kevin and his mouth. He would do this all day if he could. Kissing him is pure heaven and all he wants to do is climb into his lap and do it forever.

Except Kevin has located the lube somehow while he wasn’t paying attention and has worked a slick hand between them and is slowly jacking him off.

Travis moans and throws his head back. “Kevin,” he whispers.

There’s a shift and Kevin is laying on top of him now, has their cocks together in his hand and is steadily working them both toward orgasm. Having never done this with anyone before, Travis is unsure of what to do himself. His hands slide down Kevin’s sides and rest at his hips, arching up and into his strokes.

“God, you’re so perfect,” Kevin groans and kisses him hard, tongue lapping its way into his mouth.

Travis makes a high keening noise (that he will later deny while blushing furiously) and bucks up into Kevin’s grasp. “Fuck, Kevin. I—I can’t—,” he claws at his back, needing more contact, needing _more_.

“Me, too,” Kevin kisses along his jaw to his neck and stars explode behind Travis’ eyes. His orgasm hits him like a freight train and once he can see again, he looks down between them to see Kevin thrust up one more time into his own hand—against Travis’ softening dick—and come in short spurts that mixes with his own come.

“Christ,” he whimpers and kisses Travis, just pressing their lips together as he comes off his high.

After a minute, he falls onto his side against Travis. “Okay?” he asks.

Travis has to laugh a little. “I whited out there for a minute, so yeah, it was ‘okay’.”

“Good.” Kevin kisses his cheek. “I’m glad.”

Travis is in no rush to clean up. He kind of likes being marked with both their come, but he also wants to curl up against Kevin, and that’s difficult to do covered in jizz.

“Kleenex?” he asks, pointing at the bedside table Kevin has.

“Sure,” Kevin shifts and reaches back and nabs a handful of them before dropping them on his chest. “There you go.”

“Such a gentleman,” Travis gripes, smiling, as he cleans up their collective mess and tosses the gross tissues on the floor. “You can get those later.”

Kevin pulls him against him, rests Travis’ head on his chest. “Yeah. Tomorrow morning.”

Travis closes his eyes and settles against him. “Yeah.”

\----------------------

“Dude,” Johnny pokes his shoulder. “It’s like you took up permanent residence on cloud nine. You haven’t stopped smiling in like four days. What’s _wrong_ with you?”

It’s true. Travis is happier than he’s ever been. He flips his middle finger at Johnny and continues beating his ass against the zombie invasion on their TV screen.

“But seriously. You’re happy. And that’s good. You deserve it.”

Travis smiles. His roommate’s pretty awesome, despite being a complete douche sometimes. That’s what makes him great.

“You should bring Kevin over for dinner some night.”

Travis almost drops his controller. “What?”

That makes his asshole of a roommate snicker. “Invite the guy over for dinner.”

“You’ve eaten with him. You’ve—you eat with him every week! At least once. He’s your teammate, too.”

“Yeah,” Johnny nods. “And that’s as my teammate. I want to eat with him as my roommate’s boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend,” Travis echoes softly.

Johnny pauses their game and turns to arch an eyebrow at him. “You are… _dating_ him, right? Not just fucking?”

“We—No! I… it isn’t… we haven’t… no!”

“Chill, dude. I’m kidding,” Johnny says. “I know it’s not like that. But seriously. I want to interrogate him. I’m like the only one looking out for your delicate sensibilities.”

“My …what?” Travis glares at him. “You’re an asshole.”

“So you’ll invite him over?”

“Yeah.”

Johnny grins and unpauses their video game. “Good.”

\----------------

So, dinner is an unmitigated disaster. Not really, but Travis spends it being absolutely mortified by almost everything that comes out of Draeger’s mouth. So yeah, it qualifies as a disaster.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Kevin whispers in his ear once they get out of the cafeteria and into the safety of his dorm room.

“It wasn’t—it wasn’t _that bad_?” he crows, throwing his arms out. “He all but asked you to strip off so he could compare sizes!”

Kevin laughs and pulls Travis close. He brings his free hand, the one not still holding Travis’, up to his face and gently cups his cheek. “I’d do it all over again a million times for you.”

Travis kisses him softly and rests his forehead against Kevin’s. “You’re so corny. But it’s okay.”

“I really did have a good time. I’ll see you tomorrow at practice, alright?” he kisses him again, this time more firmly. “Have a good night, Trav.”

Sure, he’s swooning a bit. “Night, Kev.”

Johnny walks out of the bathroom. “ _Night, Kevin_ ,” he mocks.

“Dude, I hate you,” Travis says once Kevin’s gone. “You are the worst friend ever.”

Johnny grins. “That was awesome. We should do it every week.”

Travis has to seriously restrain himself from punching his roommate. Because he’s considering it.

\------------------

Their second, third, and fourth dates are a lot like their first. Dinner, movie, frottage. Travis really isn’t complaining. They spend the majority of their time together, and he’s all but living with Kevin.

Their fifth date is when Kevin decides to spice things up.

“Where are we going?” Travis asks, tugging on his tie uncomfortably. He hates ties. They make him feel claustrophobic.

“You’ll see,” Kevin pulls onto the highway.

“Seriously?” he looks around. They’re heading West. “What’s out this way?”

“It’s a surprise, Trav. Relax for a while.”

A while turns out to be four hours. Asking questions hasn’t gotten any answers, and it’s not until they pull up to the _Trump Hotel, Chicago_ that Travis has any idea of what’s going on.

“Kevin?” he squeaks, getting out of the SUV. Because holy God. This place is not cheap. It doesn’t even look like the modest hotels they stay at for hockey. This is a _nice_ , swanky place. Because it’s Trump.

“I scored us a mid-week vacation with Coach.”

Travis’ eyes widen. 

“It’s just tonight and tomorrow night, but… it’s just us. No guys, no jokes. Just… you know, us.”

Travis looks at Kevin suspiciously. “We’ve been on four dates over twenty days and you’re taking me on a romantic getaway?”

Kevin shifts and looks down. “There… may be another reason for… my coming here.”

Travis arches an eyebrow. “Well?”

“Britney’s in Chicago this week for work,” he mutters, scuffing his toe against the sidewalk.

Travis laughs. Loudly. “Kev, that’s fine. I’m glad you brought me. But, you know, you didn’t have to hide it.”

Britney, Kevin’s sister, is someone Travis has been dying to meet. In person. They’ve Skyped, because that’s how Kevin usually keeps in touch with her, and she seems to be one of the greatest people ever. But Travis really wants to meet her.

Kevin opens the trunk and grabs their secretly packed bags out of the back seat and Travis closes it helpfully. He follows Kevin inside the very nice hotel, they get their room on the ninth floor and take the elevator up.

Once inside the room, Kevin drops the bags and presses Travis up against the door. “God, you look edible in that suit,” he mutters, kissing him roughly. “I wanted to do this the whole drive out here.” He groans and presses a thigh between Travis’ legs.

Travis tangles a hand in Kevin’s hair and pulls it tight—something he knows Kevin likes. “Please,” he murmurs.

Kevin drops down to his knees and unbuttons Travis’ pants. He unzips them and slides them down to his knees and Travis’ head thunks back against the door when his briefs join his pants. “Please,” he repeats.

Kevin takes the head into his mouth, sucking softly, while a free hand comes up to massage his balls.

“Jesus, Kev. More.”

Inch by inch, Kevin takes him all the way down his throat, holding still with his nose pressed into the curls at the base of Travis’ dick. A low moan slips out and he closes his eyes. Kevin’s mouth is wet and hot and his tongue is—

—suddenly still when there’s a banging on their room door, making Travis vibrate with the force.

“Jesus H. Christ, _what the hell_?” he groans as Kevin pulls off and stuffs him back into his briefs. Travis moves away from the door and pulls up his own pants. He’s buttoning them when Kevin opens it and there’s a high-pitched squeal.

“KEVVY!”

Oh _shit_.

Travis knows he must be blushing as red as a tomato when Britney walks into the room and throws herself into his arms. “Travis. It’s so nice to _finally_ meet my brother’s obsession.”

The shock of her arrival wears off pretty fast, but he still glares at Kevin. “Britney. Kev didn’t say you were coming over here… this soon.”

“I wanted to surprise him!”

“Oh, you did,” Kevin grins, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “How about the three of us do dinner?”

Britney, as it turns out, is a very petite blonde who is dressed to kill in a short black mini and five inch hot pink stilettos. She and Kevin actually could be twins, as much as they look alike. It’s a bit weird.

“Dinner sounds great. I heard about this place not far from here that does great sushi.”

At the mention of food, Travis’ stomach growls and he rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I could go for some sushi.”

Britney looks between them. “Oh my god, guys, you’re too adorable.” She grins at Kevin, “Mom is going to flip when she meets him.”

“What?” Travis is alarmed. Does she not know Kevin’s gay? “Why?”

“Because the last guy I dated had tattoos and smelled like smoke. You’re… a nice change from my normal,” Kevin glares at Britney as he opens the door. “Don’t. Scare. Him.”

“I didn’t!” she sidles out the door, Travis and Kevin close behind. “I was just commenting.”

\----------------------

Dinner with Britney is actually pretty awesome. Travis likes her a lot. She’s almost exactly like Kevin, and if he wasn’t falling hard for him, he could see himself being insanely attracted to her.

But now they’re lying in bed, Kevin between his legs, sucking him off slowly . The teasing has been going on for damn near an hour and he doesn’t know how Kevin’s jaw isn’t aching. Every time he gets close, Kevin backs off and tongues his balls or sucks hickies into the junction where his thigh meets his hip.

“Please,” he whimpers, bucking his hips up to get more of that hot, wet mouth on his cock. “Kevin, _I love you_ , please.”

Travis freezes, looks down at Kevin, whose eyes are wide. “Oh God,” he whispers.

Except Kevin doesn’t really freeze. He hollows his cheeks out and sucks harder, tongue working the underside of his dick. Deft fingers are stroking his balls, tugging just so, and then Travis is coming, spurting down Kevin’s throat.

“Fuck,” he groans. “I’m sorry.”

Kevin pulls off him with a pop. “Don’t apologize for that.”

“I—”

“I love you, too. I have for a little while now.”

Travis’ brain is fuzzy. “I… Kevin. I don’t—it’s been twenty days. This is going a little fast.” So fast that Travis is sure his head is spinning. So fast that he’s a bit queasy. _I love you_. Already? “I can’t—”

Kevin sits up and kneels between his legs. “I know this seems fast.”

“Seems? Twenty days isn’t slow. I’m—you’re—we’re not there yet.”

“I am.”

“I’m not.” Travis sits up, shifting so his legs are hanging off the bed and his back is to Kevin. “It was a heat of the moment thing.”

Kevin puts a hand on his shoulder and Travis freezes. “I don’t think it was. Well, it was, but I think you still mean it.”

He shakes his head. This isn’t happening. It’s way too soon. Maybe, _maybe_ in a month or two, he’s ready. Maybe then. But definitely not now. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“What isn’t?” Kevin’s voice is flat.

“Us,” he whispers.

“You ‘I love you’d during sex and now you’re going from that to ‘I can’t do this anymore’?”

Travis can’t bring himself to look at him. “Yeah, well… when it happens, it happens.”

Kevin’s hand is cupping his jaw and turning his head so they’re face to face. “This isn’t happening. I love you,” he whispers. His other hand comes up and brushes through his hair. “I love you so much, and it distracts me in practice, in my classes, when I’m anywhere but with you. You’re all I think about. You’re kind and funny, and you like to make me laugh.

“I can see our future together, you know. After we’re both done with hockey, I’m working as a teacher, and you’re doing… whatever it is you want to do. Maybe we even adopt. I know you want kids, and I do, too.

“It’s scary, us moving so fast. And I get it. I do. But I love you, and I’m not going anywhere. I will stay in East Lansing and I will wait for you. I want to be with you, Travis, and I want it to be forever. I…” he sighs and pauses for a moment, “I love you. I want to marry you.”

Travis blinks hard. “Ex… _cuse_ me?”

Kevin is now grinning. “Will you marry me?”

“I—“ Travis stands up. “IT’S BEEN TWENTY DAYS!”

“I love you,” Kevin says, eyes tracking his movement.

“We can’t get married. I’m 19 years old!”

That doesn’t seem to faze him at all and he shrugs. “I think you can get married as young as 16 in the States. As long as you have a signature from a parent. But you’re over 18.”

Travis is pacing now, between the bed and the door, hands making wide-arcing movements. “I don’t even _know_ where this is coming from! It’s been twenty days! Not twenty _months_. Not twenty _years_. Twenty _days_. What do I even do with this?” he’s not really talking to Kevin, more to himself, but Kevin answers anyway,

“Marry me.”

“What if…” Travis stops. “What if I say yes?”

Kevin’s smile gets bigger, “We find rings. We pick a date. We do this.”

“Does it have to be right now?”

“Nope.” Kevin shakes his head, smile still plastered to his face. “Whenever you want. Within reason, of course. I’ll wait a while.”

“Then why do we have to get engaged _now_?”

“Because you’re going to say yes, and because I love you, and because it feels right.”

Kevin is staring at him as Travis contemplates. He feels like the Jeopardy theme could be playing right now. He wonders if Alex Trebek is standing somewhere nearby, waiting for his answer.

“What is… yes,” he says, and meets Kevin’s eyes. “Yes.”

“Yes?” Kevin repeats.

“Yes. I’ll marry you,” he murmurs and launches himself at his—fiancé?

They fall back on the bed, Travis straddling him, and he kisses him all over his face. “I love you.”

Kevin smiles. “I love you.”

“Oh, shit.”

“What?”

Travis groans and buries his face in Kevin’s neck. “I have to tell Johnny when we get back.”

He just laughs. “That’s nothing. Wait until we tell Brit tomorrow.”

Travis sighs and settles down against Kevin. “Are we even going to have a say in anything in this wedding?”

“Nope.”

“This was a terrible idea.”

“This was the best idea I’ve ever had,” he murmurs and kisses the top of Travis’ head.

“Yeah,” Travis closes his eyes. “Yeah.”

\--------------------------

Britney takes the news very well. So well, in fact, that Travis’ ears are still ringing from the squealing. Kevin offered her Best Man, and she teared up a little at that.

They decide to spend the rest of their full day in Chicago shopping for a rings, because they’re not going to find a better selection in Lansing. And Travis tells Kevin that if he’s wearing a ring, then Kevin needs one, too. It’s only fair.

They find at least one they like in every store, taking pictures of each so they can go back for them when they’ve decided. It’s over dinner with Kevin’s phone on the table, a slideshow of pictures, that they finally decide on two very simple white gold bands. Kevin says they can get something dressier for their actual wedding bands when they get married.

Their return to the store the following morning before they leave to pick up the rings is lucky. Not only do they have two rings in stock, but the rings are—magically, it seems—sized correctly to fit them both straight off the bat. Kevin looks like he’s glowing, and Travis is pretty sure he’s going to break apart from all the nerves jumbled up inside him.

“What are you nervous about?” Kevin asks as they’re just into Michigan.

Travis can’t stop twisting the band on his left hand ring finger. It feels weird. In a good way, but still weird. “I haven’t told my mom I’m bisexual, so breaking it to her that I’m engaged to you? Might be a little difficult.”

“Would you like to tell her together?” he asks, reaching for Travis’s hand with his free one and twining their fingers together.

“Really?”

Kevin’s all grins, and has been for a few days now. And really, so has Travis. “Yeah. I’d love to meet your family.”

“I think my mom will like you,” he tells him, watching out the window. “She likes people who make me smile.”

“I love you.” Kevin brings his hand up to kiss his knuckles.

Travis looks back at him and winks. “I love you, too.”

 

“How was your ‘weekend’?” Johnny asks, making air quotes, because it’s just now Friday.

Travis bites his lip and looks around. “Well… it was eventful.”

“Eventful? Did you get arrested?”

“Arres—who _are_ you? Why would I have gotten arrested? What kind of life do you think I lead?”

Johnny just shrugs and pulls out his phone. He types a message in. “Well?” he looks up at Travis. “What happened?”

“Well, I slipped up and told Kevin I loved him.”

Johnny drops his phone. If that’s his reaction to those three words… “You what? Already?”

He shifts in place. “Well, yeah. Like I said. I slipped up. Then I tried to break up with him.” His roommate is frowning at him, damn near glaring, and Travis doesn’t like that look. “Chill! It didn’t happen. The opposite happened.”

“What, you got married?” he snorts.

Travis doesn’t say anything, but holds up his left hand and waits.

Three… two…

“Holy _shit_! You did!”

He’s grinning like a loon, but shaking his head. “Nah, we just got engaged.”

“Oh, yeah,” Johnny rolls his eyes. “You only ‘just’ got engaged. Like it’s no big deal. Congratulations, dude! This is… weird, but really awesome!”

“You’re the first person I’ve told, so can you keep it quiet till we tell everyone else? His sister knows, and that’s it so far.”

He nods and walks over to look at the ring. “Cool. Well, practice calls. You comin’ or what?”

Huh. Apparently life really does go on. “Yeah. Lemme just grab my stuff,” he grabs his bag of gear and heads out behind him.

\-------------------------

Practice, as it turns out, does not go well. He’s monumentally distracted by pretty much everything Kevin does. Travis doesn’t even understand why.

When he very nearly faceplants into the goal after Kevin bends over to pick up a puck, Wolfie tells him to get the hell off the ice for a while.

It’s probably for the best.

After a few minutes in the locker room alone to cool his jets, practice gets (marginally) better. He doesn’t brain himself on anything, but he doesn’t do anything particularly well, either.

When the team is showered and getting dressed to leave, Kevin hangs back to wait for Travis, which is really nice of him. Because Travis wants to talk to him anyway.

The minute Hildebrand and Yanakeff head out the door, Kevin’s taking his band off the chain around his neck to put back on his finger. Travis follows suit, because he’s starting to get used to wearing it.

“I want to talk to Coach,” he whispers, double checking that the coast is still clear.

Kevin looks around, too, and stage-whispers back, “Why are we whispering?”

“I don’t want anyone to overhear,” Travis says in his indoor voice.

“Hear what?” he laughs and nudges his shoulder. “We haven’t said anything. And we’re probably going to have to tell them eventually. You told Draegs, right? He’s been giving me stupid grins all fucking day.”

“Yeah,” Travis nods. “But I still wanna tell Coach.”

“Let’s do it,” Kevin leads the way down to the office and pokes his head in. “Hey, um, Travis and I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Coach waves them in and Travis makes sure to close the door, which in turn makes Coach arch his eyebrows. “Is something wrong?” he asks, looking between Kevin and Travis, who are… both shifting nervously.

“No,” they say in unison. They look at each other and Travis isn’t sure how they don’t break out giggling like schoolgirls, but props to their respective abilities to contain it.

It takes a few seconds (that feel like minutes) of Travis willing Kevin to tell Coach about their engagement through intense eye contact before Kevin sighs and looks away, over to where their coach is looking something between amused and annoyed at the interaction.

“Travis and I started dating a few weeks ago,” he starts and Travis watches the surprise flicker briefly over Coach’s face. Then he nods. This isn’t a bad sign.

“I’m glad you two feel you can talk to me about that,” he tells them.

“That’s… not entirely it,” Travis interrupts what is clearly going to be a mini-lecture on responsibility to the team. Which they both know.

He looks surprised again, but waits for Kevin to continue.

“Travis and I—we—“ he fiddles with the ring on his finger, “—got engaged.”

And there’s the jaw drop that Travis was expecting. He reaches over and takes Kevin’s hand and holds it tight. “We’re going to put the team first, of course. But we wanted you to know, in case anything happens.”

Coach is grinning now, “Guys, this is great news. Congratulations. I know this won’t be an easy road for you to take, but I’m proud of both of you.”

Kevin and Travis look at each other again, and it’s their turn to be surprised at the reaction. 

“Really?” Kevin asks.

“Absolutely,” he nods. “I’m going to make sure nobody uses anything about this against you. So if you hear anything, tell me. Because there are enough problems in this sport without adding these sorts of issues to it.”

Travis nods. “Thank you, Coach.”

“Let me know if either of you need anything. I’m here—you know that.”

Both nod again. “Thanks, Coach,” Kevin says, Travis echoing him, as they open the door and head out of the locker room.

Kevin walks into one of the massage rooms, one Travis hasn’t ever been in, and pushes him up against the wall. “God, you’re so sexy,” he murmurs before kissing him.

Travis whimpers—he does that when Kevin kisses him—and curls one hand in his shirt, the other in his hair, kissing him back.

“I love you,” he whispers.

“Why are we whispering?” Kevin grins and pecks his nose.

\----------------------------

Their next stop isn’t home, as much as Travis would like it to be.

Well, it is, but not the one he wants to be at.

They decide to talk to his mom that night, together, over dinner. He’s already informed her of their impending visit, although she doesn’t know much about Kevin yet.

Travis didn’t grow up far from campus, so it doesn’t take that long to get to his mom’s house. It’s right outside campus proper.

They pull in and he has to take a few deep breaths before opening his car door.

“I’ll be right there with you,” Kevin tells him, smiling gently. “Don’t be worried. She loves you.”

“And she’ll love you,” Travis nods and gets out. “Ready?” he asks.

“I was born ready,” Kevin answers, heading up to the door just behind him.

They don’t even make it up the front steps before his mom throws the door open and all but jumps on him.

“Travis! I’ve missed you, sweetie!”

He wraps her up in a giant hug, all the while rolling his eyes. “Mom. You see me every day. I was just over here Sunday.”

She smacks his shoulder as she backs off and ushers both boys into the house. “You left for a few days. I do _not_ see you every day.” She shuts the door and taps her foot. “Well?”

Travis just stares at her for a minute. “What?”

She gestures to Kevin.

“MOM!” He’s pretty sure his mother’s goal is to exasperate him. “You’ve _met_ him twice. But fine. Mom, this is Kevin Walrod, one of the seniors. Kevin, this is my mother, Tracey Walsh.”

Kevin holds out his hand, but Travis’ mom ignores it and throws her arms around him. “It’s nice to meet you,” he laughs. “Again.”

“Likewise,” she says and pulls away. “Pie?” she looks at Travis.

It’s one of their things, since… since his dad died. “Yeah. Pie.” They eat pie before dinner, mostly to make themselves feel a bit better.

The three of them make their way into the kitchen and after his mom slices them each some pumpkin, they sit at the table.

“So how was Chicago?” she asks. “Why was it you went?”

“Just… to get away. We don’t really get the chance very often,” Travis tells her. “Not away from our teammates, anyway. It was just a nice, short break.”

She nods. “You had fun, it sounds like.”

“Yeah, actually, we did,” he fidgets and pushes his plate away, even though he’s only eaten half his pie.

“Is something wrong with it?” she frowns and pokes at her own piece. “Mine tastes okay. Kevin, how’s your pie?”

“It’s fi—”

“Mom, Kevin and I… started dating a while ago.”

And now he’s getting a sense of déjà vu. He’s probably going to be having this exact same conversation fifty times.

She gently sets down her fork and looks at Travis. “You’re gay?”

“I—” he falters and looks at Kevin.

“Bisexual,” he speaks up, giving reassurance without actually even doing anything.

“Yeah,” Travis nods.

His mother looks between the two of them, critically, before standing up. She walks over to the liquor cabinet and pulls out a bottle of… champagne?

“Mom?” He’s confused. Really confused. And still marginally worried.

She fiddles with the top for a minute before the cork goes shooting off and _thuds_ against the wall. She picks up a flute from the cupboard and pours a glass.

“Sweetie,” she turns back to Travis. “I’ve been waiting for you to tell me for a little while now.”

Travis can see that he’s not the only one letting out a giant sigh of relief when he looks at Kevin.

She smiles. “I love you, and I accept you.”

He gets up and rounds the table to throw his arms around her in a massive bear hug. “I love you, Mama.”

She’s sniffling as she hugs him back. “I love you, Travis. No matter who you want to date.”

“There’s a bit more to it,” he says as he pulls back and goes to stand behind Kevin. She watches and waits for him to continue.

“We… we’re engaged.”

And now the champagne, both bottle and glass, is on the floor, shattered with liquid all over, and she covers her mouth with her hands. “Really? Travis Walsh, you better not be lying to your mother.”

He shakes his head and can feel his eyes filling with tears. “Really, mom. I’m getting married. To Kevin.”

All three of them hug, Kevin rather awkwardly from his chair, but it still happens, and it’s still pretty awesome.

“Have you set a date yet?” his mom asks. “Or is it too soon?”

Travis bites his lip. “I haven’t discussed this with Kevin yet, but I was thinking June 21st. I’m not sure what year yet. Probably not next year. It’s a bit fast.”

Kevin tilts his head, because he’s not sure what the date is, but his mother absolutely starts crying, full-on tears. “He’d love that, Travis. He really would.”

She wanders away to find tissues and Travis looks at Kevin. “It was my dad’s birthday.”

Kevin nods, “That’s perfect. Summer weddings are better for hockey, anyway.”

He grins and kisses him slowly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” Kevin whispers.

“Why are we whispering?” Travis laughs.

 

End.


End file.
